Author: lcatali

October is my favorite month of the year – and today is a great reason why.  It is a spectacularly beautiful day in Pierce County!  High School football teams will be under the lights tonight and the Huskies will defeat the Ducks tomorrow!  Many of our employees will be heading to the mountains, fields and marshes to recreate – and some will be mowing their lawns, hoping it is the last one of the year.  Sunday afternoon I plan to visit Spooner Farms with my granddaughters.  October is the best! Even as I revel in October, I am also keenly aware what lies ahead.  “Winter is coming” and with it comes challenges for some of our residents and our community.  We have work to do. Sadly, many in our community…

We are blessed to live in a country with ready access to food.  But, for too many of us, that access provides a myriad of unhealthy food choices. Now, I’m the first to admit that I love scones from the Fair and peanut M&Ms.  They really are my kryptonite!  So, I try to not make a habit of indulging in them. I was shocked to learn that 30 percent of our county’s adult residents are obese and 25 percent of our tenth graders are overweight or obese.  Our residents are taking years off their lives through the food choices they make and the sedentary lifestyle they maintain. The good news?  People who learn how to read food labels and prepare simple healthy meals tend to make better food choices. That’s…

College students fill the campus square. And voter registration is in the air! It’s no accident that National Voter Registration Day was September 26th, 2018, as we prepare for the November General Election. The Auditor’s Office had a blast at Rock the Vote at PLU and at civic events across Pierce County. Washington State’s voter registration rate is quite healthy, regularly in the top quartile of the nation.  We’ve registered roughly 83% of the eligible population! That leaves just 17% eligible adults to register. The low hanging fruit has been harvested.  We’re going to need a ladder to reach the rest! To that end, the 2018 Washington State legislature passed several registration laws that will take effect in 2019. Your Pierce County Elections Division is busily getting ready for implementation.…

This past Monday, I finished an excellent book – “Indianapolis: the True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the 50 Year Fight to Exonerate and Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic.                             Some of you may only know of the USS Indianapolis from the memorable scene in the movie “Jaws,” with the character Quint (played by Robert Shaw) [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEx2nU74_Wo[/embedyt] The story starts much earlier.  The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was a cruiser that served exceptionally well in the Pacific during World War II.  She fought in most of the major battles and served as the flagship for the Fifth Fleet.  She was struck by a kamikaze off Okinawa, returned to…

We’ve seen a big increase in code enforcement complaints over the past few years. As I write this, seven code enforcement officers are working on about 1200 active cases. We are expecting twice as many complaints in 2018 as the year before. [caption id="attachment_1301" align="aligncenter" width="691"] A portion of the clean up needed at one property[/caption] Online portal A big part of our ability to handle the increased workload is the development of our online portal. This amazing tool, which launched at the end of 2017, allows residents to submit complaints online. But it is much more than that. The portal shows you the status of a case and everything related to the parcel. You can see a photograph of the suspected violation, if any permits have been issued on…

As a Pierce County native and Puyallup resident, I love our community celebrations that make our region distinct. Whether it’s the Buckley Log Show, Maritime Gig Festival, Daffodil parade or outdoor concerts at the Curran Apple Farm in UP, we have many great community traditions. But, for me, the granddaddy of them all is the Washington State Fair. Fall is all about school starting, football and the Fair! So of course I agreed to celebrate the opening of the new Farm at SillyVille. It is a great, new free hands-on opportunity for kids to connect to our farming heritage – and where our food comes from too. What child wouldn’t want to be a “farmer for a day” and feed chickens? Think of it as the counter-balance to Sue’s Tech Kitchen…

The culmination of thousands of hours of work and a depressing amount of paper is ending as I finalize the 2019 budget I will submit to the Council in September. Creating the budget every year may be a bit daunting but it’s a critical exercise in aligning the funds taxpayers provide with our priorities and our residents’ needs and expectations. It probably would not surprise you to learn that we received many millions more in requests than the funds we will have available to invest and spend. As a result, a work group from Finance and the Executive team has been spending much of our last two months in a windowless conference room on the 7th Floor.  We have been evaluating department plans and budget requests, assessing where our scarce…

No one wants to think about a shooter in one of our schools in Pierce County.  But, if we are going to do our best to keep our young people safe, we must not only think about such a horrific possibility but we must plan for it. That’s why I was so heartened to learn about the leadership our Sheriff’s Department demonstrated when they planned and hosted a recent school safety training session with area school districts. Chief Jim Heishman and his colleagues created the Pierce County Regional School Safety Summit to bring together educators, school administrators, law enforcement and fire personnel in a partnership to build and teach the curriculum.  Their goal was to bring a consistent approach to safety across all the schools and all the first responders…

Summer is upon us and that means it is a great grilling barbeque season.  And while barbecuing may be perceived as 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – especially with the hot weather we’ve had lately -  the secret to success is always in the sauces you use and who you invite to share the great results with. Some of my favorite family and friend memories revolve around food.   As a new addition to the County family, I have been soaking up all the terrific outdoor opportunities and food options we have in Pierce County. And wow, Pierce County is cooking up a ton of good stuff!  Like a tech-filled wonderland for the mouth and the mind.  Yes, Tacoma is one of 10 cities on a national tour for Sue’s Tech…

When meeting with employees from our Facilities Department last week, I drew the following question from the hardhat (which contained all the questions they submitted): “Professionally, what are you most proud of?”  That is a very thoughtful question, and while I answered it with them, based on what immediately came to mind, I have continued to reflect on both the question and my answer. For the group, I broke up my answer into segments of my varied work life: During my service in the Navy, one of the highest compliments I ever received was from Construction Mechanic Second Class Faulkner while I was leading a 125-man detachment of Seabees working in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Petty Office Faulkner was a great front-line leader, so it meant a lot to me when…

Large handmade cedar bark canoes are on the move.  Some have been on the water and even in the ocean over the last month. Paddle to Puyallup will kick off tomorrow morning and run through Saturday, August 4th as more than 100 cedar bark canoes will ask permission to land and come ashore at the former Ole & Charlie’s Marina at the mouth of the Hylebos Waterway.  Canoes are coming - one from the east coast, as far south as Southern Oregon and as far north as Alaska. Canoe Journey has been going on since it’s rebirth in 1989 when the Paddle to Seattle was organized to commemorate the state of Washington’s statehood Centennial   Starting in 1993 and nearly every year thereafter, a Tribe or Nation has hosted Canoe Journey. This year,…

Late last week I learned that Lowell Porter, our director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), is retiring from Pierce County.  While I appreciate his decision, it’s always hard to say goodbye to a trusted and talented colleague. Those of you who know Lowell know that he has been a dedicated and respected public servant for nearly 40 years. That includes his role as the director of Washington State Patrol and several years here at Pierce County heading up DEM. It’s a tribute to Lowell’s fantastic management of the team that we will be able to move ahead in a fairly seamless way while we conduct a search for our next director. That is especially important when you consider that his team has accountability for ensuring smart, effective preparation…

I wrote this blog from BWI Airport (Baltimore-Washington International) waiting for my 7:20 p.m. flight back to SeaTac.  The last two days have been non-stop, including traveling on nearly every kind of transportation: bus from the airport to/from the train station; train to/from DC; cab to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers HQ; and on foot walking around the Capitol Campus. It was as hot and miserable as I remember from my days at the Naval Academy. Today’s suit, which I am also flying home in, will need to go directly to the cleaners tomorrow! However, the issues that caused Councilmember and Flood Control Zone District Chair Rick Talbert and me to make the quick trip were critically important and required face-to-face discussions. First, I learned back in April, that…

I hope you had a fun and relaxing Fourth of July celebration with your family and friends this week! My celebration was colored by two people I met this past week.  In last week’s blog, I highlighted meeting an amazing 98-year-old WWII nurse who served in the South Pacific at the Betsy Ross Open House.  Sunday, I met a 99-year-old Army Air Corps colonel who flew 50 combat missions in a B-24 over Europe. These two amazing Americans reminded me of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made to keep our nation free AND that we have nearly lost the generation that served in World War II. With that as background, I wanted to pass along a book recommendation for your summer reading list.  I am a big fan of…

Earlier this week I read a story in the News Tribune about a teenager who broke into a woman's home in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Her husband was gone on travel, so she was home alone when awakened by her dogs to alert her to a 16-year-old breaking into the house.  The woman grabbed her handgun and shouted a warning down the hallway.  The teen burglar ignored that warning and came down the hall toward her. That’s when she fired a warning shot. I have never had a warning shot fired in my vicinity in a darkened hallway, but it has to be terrifying.  Any remotely rational person would immediately flee to avoid getting shot. But, not this teenage burglar. I was stunned to learn that the first shot…

Can you imagine traveling seventy miles on the water under your own power – no motor or sail? Me, neither! But, earlier this week about 120 teams of intrepid – and maybe a bit crazy – people took on that challenge for the first time in the South Sound. They paddled, pedaled and rowed in all kinds of vessels from the Thea Foss Waterway to the public dock in Pt. Townsend. Called Seventy48, the race was modeled on the popular annual “R2AK” race from Pt. Townsend to Alaska. That race is 750 miles! Our race is “only” 70 miles but you have to complete it in 48 hours. Back in Tacoma, individual stand-up paddlers competed with 4-person sculls and tandem kayaks.  The contestants were outfitted with lights, GPS and every…

Community. You take a collection of people in a geographic area and call that a community. But being a community is a continuous endeavor. It’s that feeling of belonging, that members matter to one another, and everyone is committed to the greater group. It takes everyone, fulfilling small and large roles, to make a place where folks want to live, work, and raise their families. As the new Constituent Services Director, I’ve spent the last few weeks taking tours, meeting employees, and learning about the in-and-outs of various departments. I can say without reservation the Pierce County team is dedicated to building community in big ways! The fervor is widespread! But as we diligently strive day-to-day for a better community, we also need friends, family, and neighbors to guide us.…

We owe the residents of Pierce County as much insight into how their government operates as possible.  That’s why a team of County employees have spent the better part of the last few months designing and developing a suite of online platforms for reporting about Pierce County operations and performance. Under an initiative called “Open Pierce County,” we have made important strides in “opening up” the County to our residents. For example, earlier this year we launched the new portals for requesting public records and reporting nuisance properties. These sites have made interacting with the County and fulfilling requests much easier. Today, we are launching the next phase of Open Pierce County. There are three main components: Open Performance provides employees and the public with data-driven dashboards on strategic measures…

Messages matter.  And, the message we were sending last Tuesday during a press conference was that we want more family-wage jobs for our residents and good businesses are an important part of a vibrant Pierce County! Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with nine mayors from some of our largest cities in the county -- as well as representatives from labor and business -- we declared we want Pierce County to be a place where people can work near where they live.  We want them to have the option to be home in time to coach Little League, attend a school recital, plant a garden, or ride the expanded Foothills Trail. Every day, tens of thousands of our neighbors commute out of the county for their work, spending countless hours on congested roads. What…